Cooking Up A Mess
by MidnightBlueDragon
Summary: Nagase Kimika has a giant problem: she has a crush on Niou Masaharu! Marui doesn't like that idea at all. It gets even worse when Niou begins to fall for her too! MaruiOcNiou
1. It begins

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything!**

**So here i am again, making a new story when i told myself that i wouldn't start a new story until i finished at least one of my other stories! **

**Well, i couldn't resist! This is the first Love trianlge i've done, i believe Yeah!**

* * *

**Chapter 1: It begins**

It was particularly silent in the school kitchen. The only sounds came from the running water of the faucet and the occasional sighs from the girl who was scrubbing a bowl in the said sink. This continued until the silence was penetrated by a loud beeping noise. Slipping off the yellow rubber gloves, the girl moved swiftly to the oven, opening it. Peering at the contents of the single tray in the oven, she smiled at the golden brown cookies. Using oven mitts, she gingerly took the tray out and placed it on a cloth on the counter.

Turning back to the oven, she switched it off and took off the oven mitts. With a delighted smile, she returned back to washing the dishes, waiting for the cookies to cool down a bit to hold themselves together before she placed them on the cooling rack.

Since she had her back turned to the door, the only indication of some one entering the room she had was the shuffling of feet. Not bothering to turn around, she smiled, "Marui-san, don't you have practice today? And don't touch those cookies!"

"Shoot, I didn't think you'd hear me come in," Marui scratched the back of his head. "Yukimura said it would alright if I'm _a bit_late. So what you been up to, Nagase-chan?"

"New recipe," Nagase Kimika replied, pointing to the batch of freshly baked cookies. "If they're good, I'm thinking of entering them in the contest that's coming up."

"Cool, I'll make sure to be there to cheer you on!" Marui grinned, glancing at the cookies from the corner of his eyes. Kimika noticed this.

"Go ahead, take one," she laughed. "They're for you to taste anyways."

Marui flashed her a grin before grabbing one and stuffing into his mouth. As his mouth was full, she continued, "You won't be able to make it anyways. It's next Saturday, you have a tennis match that day."

"Wait," Marui said through a mouthful of cookie. "Don't you have a match that day, too?"

Kimika nodded, "Mai-buchou said that it would be okay if I missed the match. Anyways, Reina agreed to fill in for me."

"You're going to win for sure!" Marui yelled, finally swallowing the mouthful he had been trying to savor for the longest time possible. "That was great! What was in it?"

"Thanks," she beamed. "Two kinds of chocolate, white and dark, macadamia nuts, almond extract, and coconut flakes."

"Mmmm," Marui smiled like he just tasted heaven. "Can I take the rest?" He gave her those puppy dog eyes that she could never resist.

"Sure, but make sure you give one to Yukimura-san as thanks, of course," Kimika smiled. Both third years knew that the only reason that the blue haired captain allowed Marui to skip the first twenty minutes of practice every now and then to visit Kimika when she was cooking was that Marui always brought something back from his visit.

Marui nodded, "Yukimura-buchou is really going to love this one!"

"Leave two, take the rest," Kimika added. "I really don't want Ayame to kill me for not giving her any and letting you have all of them."

"Wisely said," Marui smirked before taking off with a wave. "See you later, thanks for the sweets!"

"Any time," she waved with a delighted smile. Her spirits were always lifted when the pink haired 'tensai' came to visit her.

* * *

"Marui, you're late," Sanada bellowed, the pink haired boy winced.

"It's alright, Sanada, I gave him permission," Yukimura said with a pleasant smile. "Now what do you have for me today?" He was rubbing his hands together, anticipating something good.

"It's a new recipe," Marui grinned, handing a cookie to his captain who received it happily.

"My, my, this is delicious," Yukimura smiled happily as he chewed the delicacy. "Letting you go over there today was one of my best decisions yet."

"What cha eating?" Kirihara asked as he approached the older boys.

"Try it," Yukimura handed him another one of the cookies, ignoring Marui's pout and muttering that it was his cookie.

"Let me guess, a new cookie recipe from Nagase Kimika?" Yanagi asked, peering at the cookies that Marui clutched in his hands.

"Correct," Yukimura nodded. "Award winning, I say. I must make sure to tell her that when I see her in class tomorrow."

"You're sharing sweets and you don't offer me any?" Niou asked in pretend anger. He grabbed a cookie stealthily. "This _is_good. I have made up my mind: my future woman must be a good cook like this. Puri."

And this comment, Marui grimaced.

* * *

"Kimika!" The brown haired girl turned to stare at the owner of the voice who interrupted her day dreams.

"What is it, Akira?" She asked, slightly annoyed.

"Were you dreaming about _him _again?" Suwa Akira asked; her tone filled with disgust.

"Yeah," Kimika nodded, dreamily.

"You don't even know what kind of guy he is!" Akira frowned. "Kimika, you need to stop this little crush of yours before you get hurt!"

"You don't know who he is either!" Kimika snapped. "I know he's a passionate guy who's serious about tennis."

"Other than that, you know nothing," Akira crossed her arms.

"Akira," Kimika stood up, glaring into the other girl's eyes. "You know nothing of love."

"I know enough to know that this little 'crush' of yours is wrong," Akira rolled her eyes.

"You two over there!" their captain called. "Stop bickering and get to practice! Don't make me give you laps!"

* * *

"Who are those two?" Niou asked as he peered out his binoculars. "Friends of yours?"

"Give me that," the black haired girl who was seated next to him grabbed the binoculars. "Yeah, they're our doubles two. Nagase Kimika and Suwa Akira."

"I think that the brunette is my type, Rin," Niou smirked.

Echizen Rin rolled her eyes, "Yeah, in your dream. I've known her for a long time and I know for a fact that she would never fall for you."

"Oh, really, now?" Niou raised an eyebrow. "Then tell me 'oh-great-one' who she would fall for?"

"My guess," Rin closed her eyes as she leaned against the trunk of the tree, "would be someone like Marui. She's close friends with him, you know."

"Wait, is she the one who can cook a mean meal?" Niou asked as he realized something.

"Uh huh," Rin murmured, eyes still closed.

"Pft, Marui won't _like_her. He probably thinks of her as just a good friend," Niou grinned, watching the girls through his binoculars.

"What do you mean?" Her eyes shot open to stare at the silver haired trickster.

"Marui is a great guy and all, but he's pretty dense and self conceited," Niou shrugged. "And that means that I have big chance with her!"

"Or may be you're the one who's just too dense and self conceited," Rin murmured under her breath.

"Say, how many laps do you think we'll get for skipping out of tennis practice to hang in a tree?" Niou asked, obviously missing the girl's comment.

"Hard to say, they might come up with something worse this time," Rin grinned, jumping down from the high branch they were seated on and landing perfectly on her feet. Smirking, Niou jumped down as well. However, his landing wasn't nearly as perfect as hers as he faltered slightly when his feet hit the ground.

"Ow," Niou groaned, "how do you do that?"

"I'm an acrobat," Rin shrugged before walking away to her tennis practice.

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**So what did you think? Constructive criticism welcome! Please review!**

**THanks!**


	2. Where did he run off to?

**Disclaimer: don't own anything...**

**so this is a random update, just found it on computer so yeah....**

**hope you enjoy and don't forget to review!!**

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Chapter 2: Where did he run off to?

"Game and match to Jackel-Marui pair, 6 games to 1!" The referee announced.

Marui smirked as he and Jackel high fived. Approaching the net to shake the hands of the other two players, Marui couldn't but help but smirk smugly at the pair who had been acting obnoxious in the beginning of the match, thinking that they could win.

"Nice job creaming those losers," Niou said as he and Yagyuu passed the retreating Doubles 2 pair on their way to the court.

"Bet you couldn't do any better," Marui teased.

"Oh, yeah, we'll just see about that," Niou smirked. "Right, Yagyuu?"

"Just pay attention to the match," Yagyuu replied.

"Yagyuu! You're supposed to back me up!" Niou yelled, irritated.

* * *

"Yukimura-buchou," Marui called as he approached the blue haired captain who had left the match to get something to drink.

"Ah, Marui, how is the match going?" Yukimura smiled pleasantly at his teammate.

"Fine, it's 3-0," Marui replied automatically. Then his face fell. He bit his lip, "Yukimura, can I ask you something?"

"What's wrong?" Worry flushed the blunette's face. "Did something happen?"

"Well, you see Nagase-chan was entering the Cooking Competition today and I really wanted to go watch her match but I couldn't because we had a match but I really want to go---"

"Marui," Yukimura said to get him to stop talking. He blinked twice before beginning to chuckle, "Of course you can go. But don't forget to bring me something back in return."

"Thanks, buchou," Marui grinned gratefully before running back to the courts to grab his stuff. Yukimura followed in a slower pace.

* * *

_Okay it's Yagyuu's turn to serve, _Niou thought as he got in position to return the ball as soon as it came his way. _That means---wait? Where is that Marui going? _

He watched Marui gather his stuff and leave from the corner of his eyes, curiousity getting the best of him. He switched his attention back to the match just in time to barely hit back the ball.

* * *

The brunette was a nervous wreck. The cooking portion had just ended a couple of minutes ago and the test tasting part was just beginning. Kimika nervously paced back and forth down the hall. Every now and then, she would glance at the clock and get even more nervous.

"I don't get why you're so worked up. You know you're going to win in the end, anyways." She turned abruptly to see Marui Bunta smirking at her.

"Marui-san!" She lunged herself at him, embracing him in a tight hug. "You made it!"

Surprised at the sudden action, Marui was at a loss of what do to. It took a while for him to recover and hug her back.

"So how was your match?" she asked as she pulled away from the hug. She was smiling brightly at him. He always enjoyed it when she smiled at him. It was so warm and welcoming. That made him make up his mind, he would keep her mind off the contest for as long as possible.

"We won, 6-1. We should have won 6-love, but Jackel wanted to test our opponents first so he made us lose the first round," Marui smirked as he recalled defeating the two third year opponents. "They really did suck though."

"Don't they all," Kimika joked.

"True, the only opponents that weren't an absolute waste of out time was Seigaku," Marui's grin faded. "And they beat us…"

"So who was playing next?" Kimika asked quickly in an attempt to brighten the pink haired boy.

Marui inwardly sighed. He'd rather talk about their loss to Seigaku then to talk about Niou with her. "Niou and Yagyuu's doubles pair."

Her eyes brightened even more, Marui scowled to himself. How could that damn trickster's name make her feel so happy?

"How were they doing?" She asked curiously.

He hesitated before replying, "So far they hadn't let their opponent get a single point."

"Wow," Kimika smiled, thinking about what the boy had just said. "They must be a really good team. I've only seen Niou-san play once before. And that was a singles against his own doubles partner. It was brilliant. He looked intense and in the game. It seemed like nothing else mattered to him but that game." She sighed deeply. "And he's so good looking, too. I mean what else could one want in a guy."

There were so many things that Marui wanted to say at the moment. But his conscience didn't allow him to say anything that would ruin her view of one of his best friends. So instead he decided that he would lamely try to change the subject. "I think that the judging should be done by now. We should get to the auditorium now so that we can make it to the award ceremony."

"Yeah," Kimika nodded in agreement. Happy that his attempt worked, Marui practically skipped down the hall. "Um, Marui-san, where are you going? It's that way," she pointed in the totally opposite direction then that which Marui was going in.

"Er, may be I should be the one following you," Marui smiled sheepishly.

"May be you should," Kimika giggled.

* * *

"See I told you!" Marui exclaimed, high fiving the brunette. "That competition was in the bag!"

"Thanks," Kimika smiled happily, clutching the trophy she had won for first place. "And thank you for coming and supporting me."

"So this is where you ran off to, Marui." A husky voice came from behind the two teens.


	3. First date, well almost

**Disclaimer: i don't own anything.**

* * *

Chapter 3: First Date, Well Almost

"So that's where you ran off to, Marui," a husky voice came from behind them.

Kimika gasped as she recognized the tall figure. Marui clenched his fingers into a fist which he wanted to throw into the silver haired boy's face.

"You must be Nagase Kimika, I presume," Niou smiled warmly at the girl, taking her hand and gently placing a kiss on it. "Niou Masaharu."

"Nice to meet you," she managed to get out, her heart had melted at the gentleman like courtesy. She always thought it was his doubles partner who did stuff like that.

Marui rolled his eyes, hating to ruin the moment. Actually he loved to, "Nagase-chan! Let's go celebrate now!"

However, the pink haired boy was ignored fully, when Niou spoke. "I see you won, congratulations, my dear."

"T-thank you," Kimika replied, blushing madly.

"Would you give me the pleasure of allowing me to take you out to celebrate your win?" Niou asked politely, his charming smirk glued to his face.

"Of course," she nodded.

"Marui, are you going to come with us?" Niou turned to the pink haired boy.

"Hell yeah!" Marui yelled angrily.

"Your choice," Niou shrugged.

* * *

"I can't believe he did that!" Marui ranted to himself as he entered his room.

"Who did what?" Ayame asked. She was lying down on the bed of his room, examining her nails and filing them neatly.

"Niou! He kissed Nagase-chan's hand and then took her out on the date that I was supposed to take her on!" Marui practically yelled. But he didn't because it was pretty late and he didn't want his parents to get mad.

"Ooh, seems like someone's jealous," Ayame teased, not looking up from her nails.

"Of course I am!" Marui exclaimed exasperated. He plopped himself down on his computer desk chair. Pulling his hand through his hair, he sighed, more calm than before, "I've liked her since grade one and known her since. But she only has eyes for that jerk. All because of the fake Niou he showed her today and that stupid match of his."

"Uh huh, " Ayame mumbled absentmindedly. Not bothering to pay attention to the rant that she had only heard four hundred times.

"I mean is he that better looking than me?" Marui asked tired, as he glanced at his reflection.

"Yes," the pink haired girl nodded.

"AYAME!"

"You asked," Ayame shrugged. "If you really want someone to answer your problem go talk to Rin. She's great help, you know."

"I can't do that!" Marui said, clutching his hair. He was practically pulling it all out. "She's like best friends with Niou! He'll find out that I like her! And then he'll purposely date her just to spite me!"

"You know what you have to do," Ayame suddenly sat up.

"What?" Marui glanced at his cousin with eyes that were filled to the brim with hope.

"Pull the first move. Show Kimi-chan that you're the better man! Show her that you love her more than he loves her and that you'll never leave her side!" Ayame said, pumping up.

"But how do I do that?" Marui asked desperately.

"How should I know? That's your job to find out," Ayame rolled her eyes before exiting the room.

* * *

"I don't like that boy," Nanjirou commented as he watched the door close behind the silver haired boy.

"You say that every time he comes over," Ryoma commented.

"When is he going to get a girlfriend and leave my dear daughter alone?" Najirou asked, annoyed.

"Dad, even if he does get a girlfriend, he still won't leave me alone," Rin pointed out as she took a seat on the couch next to her younger brother.

"I still don't like him," the older man pouted like a child.

"He plays tennis," Rin smirked.

"May be he isn't that bad," Nanjirou decided.

The black haired girl rolled her eyes before picking up a magazine off the table and flipping through it. Her mind drifted to the earlier conversation she had with her best friend.

"_I made my first move," Niou declared proudly. _

"_So you went out on your first date alone? How cute!" Rin teased._

"_Well, not exactly. You see Marui was there as well."_

_Rin frowned. "Are you sure that Marui doesn't like her?"_

"_Positive, he didn't say anything when I flirted with her," Niou nodded. _

"_I hope you know what you're doing," Rin replied with a tone of warning._

"_Of course I know what I'm doing!"_

* * *

**Who knew that Niou could be so dense?**

**And also, i know that Niou was OOC but that's the point! :)**

**Well, hoped you enjoyed and don't forget to review!**


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